


Ghosts of Christmas Past

by skypirateb



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Action/Adventure, Christmas, Dog pats, F/M, Gen, M/M, PTSD symptoms, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-04
Updated: 2018-08-04
Packaged: 2019-06-21 13:34:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15558840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skypirateb/pseuds/skypirateb
Summary: Nico was hoping for a quiet Christmas Eve with video games and his boyfriend. Unfortunately, things can never go smoothly for him without Underworld business completely derailing everything first.





	Ghosts of Christmas Past

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a fortuitously-timed conversation I had with chellerrific while I was taking a break from another (much larger) fic I'm working on. I wanted her to write it and then I accidentally wrote it myself. I realise I'm posting Christmas fic in August but y'all I'm not built for heat waves and counting down the days until winter is helping keep me from totally losing my mind.

Persephone stared at the trail of destruction that lead from one of the Pits, across the Fields of Asphodel, and towards Elysium. She knew what she had to do, but she really didn't want to.

 

"You're sure you can't track it yourself?" she said.

 

"My Lady, even you could track this," Hecate replied. "It's disposing of it that will be a problem."

 

Persephone crossed her arms. "Is Elysium locked down?" She was hedging. "I don't want to have to spend even more time remodelling after we just finished installing the new spa garden."

 

Hecate showed her the iPad she was holding. "Everything has been secured as per the protocol."

 

Persephone scanned her eyes over the screen, but she trusted Hecate. She sighed. "Are we _sure_ Hades can't do this?" she whined. "He has battle gear, and the tunic makes his legs look so sexy..."

 

Hecate smiled like a wolf that had pinned a rabbit. "I think we both know what his Lordship would say to that suggestion."

 

The Queen of the Underworld huffed. She _hated_ using their contractor. It was a constant battle between her intense dislike of him and the fact that he resembled his father more and more every year. She would rather stab pins in her eyes than try to deal with the weird Pandora's Box of feelings she had about him. Easier for them to ignore each other at all times.

 

Grumbling, she pulled out her phone. "I hope he has holiday plans," she said spitefully. "At least then he'll be as shitty about this as I am."

 

+++

 

Nico did have holiday plans. His plans were marathoning the Castlevania games in his library that he hadn't gotten around to playing yet, eating his own weight in pandoro, and making out with his boyfriend. They didn't include getting passive-aggressive messages from his step-mother on Christmas Eve, and they definitely didn't include engaging in a very real game of _Monster Hunter_.

 

They were in their third hour of gaming and Will’s mother had just finished making cocoa when his phone dinged.

 

His stomach sank. This was not a demigod phone. Well, it was, but other demigods didn't have the number. It was his work phone, technically speaking, and no more than half a dozen people had the number.

 

He pulled the phone out and read the message. Will leaned over his shoulder to read it with him.

 

"' _There's a situation. Get your ass down here now_ '." Will snorted. "Is she always this charming?"

 

"You say that," Nico replied darkly. "But this is about as polite as she gets." Which meant she hadn't had time to meticulously compose a more insulting message, which meant the situation must be worse than normal. He sighed, then swore. "I can't even get a quiet Christmas Eve around here."

 

Will smiled sympathetically. "There'll be other Christmases."

 

Except there might not be. That was the whole point. Their lives were always full of risk and danger and, particularly on Nico's side, death. They had to take advantage of every scrap of downtime that they got, because neither of them could take for granted that there would be other Christmases, or other kisses, or other nights together. Nico pinched the bridge of his nose. "If she's doing this just to fuck with me—"

 

"Wasn't that part of the deal?" Will asked. "That she wasn't allowed to fuck with you?"

 

Nico glowered at him. To his credit, Will didn't flinch. "Yeah, but if I can tell myself she's fucking with me until I get there, then I can be angry at her for the maximum amount of time."

 

Will laughed. As always, it had a distressingly mollifying effect on Nico's mood. "Why don't I come with you?"

 

Nico stared at him. "What? No. I can't ask you to do that. You could be killed."

 

As soon as he said it, he regretted it. Will winced. "Well, maybe you need a medic," he said gently. "And anyway, I'm not that bad with a bow."

 

Nico sighed. "No, I know." Will had spent at least as many years as he had fighting monsters. He had the skills. But the idea of Will facing off against anything that could get him killed always kicked his adrenaline-induced panic into high gear. And it wasn't like taking an Apollo kid down into the Underworld was any kind of good idea. It was, in fact, a very bad, no good idea. It was why he kept putting off introducing Will to his... family.

 

But Nico was a terrible healer. And here was the best healer he knew, offering to accompany him on what sounded like a suicide mission organised by his step-mother, who hated him. "Sorry." He sighed. "I'm just..."

 

"Frustrated, angry, upset, etc., etc." Will smiled. "It's fine, I get it."

 

And Nico knew he did. Maybe that's why he said, "Will you come with me, though?" He meant it to sound off the cuff and conciliatory, but instead it came out sounding more like a kid pleading with his parent. "I mean, she's probably just fucking with me, or else she's sending me on a suicide mission just to get rid of me once and for all, but—"

 

Will grinned. "Chasing down real monsters in the real Underworld is much better than pixel monsters," he said gamely. "Come on, sunshine."

 

+++

 

Less than half an hour later they popped out of the shadow of a white poplar onto one of the main paths in the Underworld. Nico scanned the area. Everything looked relatively normal, except for being completely deserted and a trail of destruction that had already been blocked off with something that looked like police tape. Apparently Persephone wasn't fucking with him after all. "Fabulous," Nico grumbled. He turned to Will, who was shivering violently. "Are you okay?"

 

Will nodded. "I'll b-b-be fine once we g-g-get walking." As a child of the sun god, Will was more adversely affected by shadow travel than most other demigods. Nico was convinced he was going to get hypothermia from it one day.

 

He grabbed one of Will's hands and stuck it in his own pocket. His hands weren't much warmer, but he wanted to do something. "Come on," he said. "Let's go find my wicked step-mother."

 

They started by following the trail of destruction, which was, in Nico's experience, a good way to track Persephone down. He wasn't wrong. She was standing on the crest of a hill with Hecate, looking down into the valley where the Judgement Platform stood.

 

"Where have you _been_?" she demanded as soon as she saw him. "You should have at least let me know you were on the way!"

 

"I did." Nico held up his phone to show her a message simply reading 'omw'. Persephone scowled.

 

"I didn't get it."

 

Nico looked at his phone. "Oh, whoopsie, I guess I accidentally saved it as a draft instead of sending it." He looked her dead in the eye. "Silly me."

 

Persephone fumed. Then she caught sight of Will. Her eyes lit up. "You brought your boyfriend?"

 

Their hands were still clasped together in Nico's pocket. He nudged Will a little behind him with his elbow. "I thought I might need a healer," he said casually.

 

Persephone gasped. "You don't trust Hecate? I'm distraught, Nemo!"

 

Hecate patted Nico on the top of his head. "I forgive you, my Prince," she said kindly. Then: "You would look lovely with pink hair."

 

"No, thanks," Nico replied firmly.

 

Persephone was trying to manhandle Will out from behind Nico. "I'm Persephone!" she said cheerfully. "Oh gosh, you're like, a total cutie, your freckles, I'm like, dying over here, oh my gods."

 

"Nice to meet you," Will said politely. He was gripping Nico's hand so tightly Nico was starting to lose any feeling in his fingers. Mentions of his freckles or dimples tended to embarrass him deeply. "Nico has told me so much about you."

 

Persephone laughed charmingly. "Oh, you can't listen to what this old grump has to say about me!" she said airily. "He'll have you believing I'm like, a total nightmare."

 

"You _are_ a total nightmare!" Nico protested.

 

Persephone smirked. "That's funny, because just the other night in bed, you father was saying—"

 

"STOP!" Nico yelped. He knew he was behaving exactly how she wanted him to, but GODS, he did NOT need to hear this! "I'm here to do a job for you! Just tell me what it is and we'll get it over with!"

 

Persephone huffed and pouted like a small child. "Fine," she said. "Hecate?"

 

"Yes, my Lady." Hecate handed Nico an iPad. He took it with his free hand, and Will scrolled through the briefing with his own free hand. "Approximately two hours ago the alarms around one of the Pits were tripped," Hecate said. "It wasn't initially obvious, but it's become clear that we're dealing with a rather vicious little beastie."

 

"Okay." Nico scanned the security images. The shape of the monster was blurry, but it looked like it had four legs and a tail.

 

Which didn't exactly narrow it down. Cerberus had four legs and a tail.

 

"We've been trying to get Hades to upgrade the security system for like, ever," Persephone said. "But you know what he's like. We only have _these_ ," she indicated the iPad, "because Thanatos upgraded the whole system behind his back the last time I convinced him to go on vacation with me." She huffed, ruffling her fringe. "So I won't be able to use _that_ trick again for a couple of decades."

 

"Elysium has been locked down," Hecate continued. "But we've also lost the trail."

 

Persephone looked at Will. "Are you any good at tracking?"

 

Will ducked his head. Nico knew Will was very good at tracking, but also that he was too humble to cop to it. "I should be okay," he said.

 

Persephone made a noise to indicate that this wasn't exactly ideal, but she was desperate. "Look, we just need you to deal with it as quickly as possible," she said. "Winter is a busy time of year for us. Whatever it is could do a lot of damage down at arrivals, which would mean a paperwork pile-up, which would mean we'd all be on overtime until at least next fall." She sighed. "And that's before we even think about what happens if it gets topside."

 

"Why hasn't it gone topside yet?" Nico asked. Usually monsters emerging from the Pits had vendettas against demigods and were keen to hunt them down for revenge as quickly as possible. They didn't hang around the Underworld like this.

 

"Your guess is as good as mine, kiddo." For the first time, Persephone looked tired rather than annoyed or angry. "Just... just fix it. I told Hades I'd take care of it. He doesn't need this crap on his plate right now."

 

Nico looked at her questioningly, but she ignored him. He handed the iPad back to Hecate. "Okay then." He looked at Will. "Ready for a romantic date with a high probability of certain death?"

 

"Those are my favourite kinds of romantic dates," Will replied. Nico grinned at him.

 

"Gross," Persephone said. "Adorable and also gross. Get out of here before I'm forced to invite you for dinner."

 

And since none of them wanted that, Nico and Will headed down into the valley.

 

+++

 

They had to pull their hands out of Nico’s pocket to keep them from falling face first onto the grass, but they kept them clasped together for balance.

 

“So this is the Underworld?” Will said.

 

“Yeah.” Nico glanced at him nervously. “What do you think?”

 

Will looked around. “It’s colder than I thought it’d be.” He half-smiled at Nico. “Even your step-mother was wearing a fur coat.”

 

Nico rolled his eyes. “Don’t ask,” he said.

 

“And that was… Lou Ellen’s mother with her, right?”

 

“Right.”

 

Will nodded, but didn’t probe further. Instead, he said, “What’s this place we’re heading towards?”

 

“That’s the Judging Platform,” Nico said.

 

“The Judg—Oh.” Will breathed softly as he understood. “So that’s where—?”

 

“Yep.”

 

“And one day—?”

 

“Yep.” Nico tried not to think about it. He liked how Will stepped a little closer to him, though. “Anything here?” he asked.

 

Will paused. “I’m not really sure what I’m looking for,” he admitted sheepishly.

 

“Monsters have a distinctive smell though, right?” Nico said.

 

Will screwed up his nose. “Do I look like a satyr to you?”

 

Nico smirked. “I mean, I’d have to get your pants off to be sure, but—”

 

“Oh my gods.” Will let go of Nico’s hand and started digging around in his med kit. “What I mean is that I’m no expert in this. I’ve just taken the same courses they put all us Apollo kids though at Camp.”

 

Nico stepped back to let Will work. As a son of one of the Big Three, he didn’t really need to learn tracking. Monsters were the ones tracking _him_ , most of the time, so his best skills were things like ‘running away’ and ‘suicidally heroic last stands’.

 

From his medic pouch Will pulled out a packet of laurel leaves. He murmured a quick enchantment. The leaves glowed a soft gold. He put them in his mouth and started to chew them, then looked around. When he looked back at Nico, his eyes were glowing amber.

 

“Got it,” he said. “This way.”

 

+++

 

Whatever it was had been prowling around the Judgement Platform. Even Nico could see the way the grass had parted in certain places from something slinking through the long stalks. The Platform had been evacuated, but there didn’t seem to be any damage that either of the boys could see.

 

“Where next?” Nico asked.

 

Will looked around, thoughtful. Then he pointed in the one direction Nico was hoping he wouldn’t. “That way,” he announced.

 

Nico groaned. “You’re sure?”

 

“Absolutely.” Will fell into step beside him. “Why? What’s that way?”

 

“Arrivals,” Nico grumbled. Will swore. Nico concurred.

 

They started jogging. “Do you think that leaf trick could work on me?” Nico asked as they loped through the grass.

 

“With the bay leaves?” Will said. “I don’t think so.” He was panting slightly from the effort of trying to chew the leaves as they jogged. “It’s my Dad’s sacred plant, so Chiron said it basically helps to enhance any basic natural skills we might have inherited from our godly parents. Don’t you have something like that?”

 

“My dad doesn’t really have sacred plants,” Nico said. “Well, I guess there’s the pomegranate seeds, but those are for emergencies only. And using mint toothpaste gives me nightmares.”

 

Will nearly choked on his own saliva at that, which Nico thought was well deserved. “Is that why you hate candy canes and peppermint bark?” Will asked, sounding delighted.

 

“Oh, do you hear that, that sounds like Cerberus,” Nico said as a round of deep barking broke out around them. “We must be getting close.”

 

They charged over a ridge towards chaos. Spirits were scattering everywhere, heedless of whether they had passed through check-in or not. Security Skeletons were alternately trying to lock down the gates and screaming at everyone over megaphones not to panic. One of the skeletons tripped over in the commotion, sending his bones scattering everywhere.

 

“Oh for gods’ sake,” Nico said.

 

Will tapped his chin thoughtfully. “So this is why they decided having a demigod on their payroll would be a good idea,” he mused.

 

In the centre of it all, Cerberus was barking down and growling at something one third his size. All three of his jaws were slobbering and his haunches were up. Nico took a deep breath, stuck two fingers in his mouth, and whistled as loud as he could over the racket.

 

One of Ceberus’ heads looked up and saw who had whistled. He let out a happy bark that clearly said “Look tiny master! We have captured the bad thing! Come praise us!” Unfortunately, that gave Nico a view of what they were dealing with.

 

Ice cold terror went through him. He grabbed Will’s shoulders. “Do you see that?” he said.

 

“What? The monster?”

 

“Yes, the monster, of course the monster, please tell me that’s not what I think it is.”

 

“Umm…” Will squinted, and chewed his bay leaf harder. “It looks like… a lion? But it’s tail is all… weird and spiky and—”

 

“Shit,” Nico said. “ _Fuck_.”

 

Will grabbed Nico’s hand. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

 

 _Three thousand attack power and plus five to saving throws!_ Nico could hear his own childish voice in his head, echoing down the years, clawing at his throat. “It’s the… the manti…” He couldn’t get the words out. Will gripped him tighter.

 

“Come on,” he said urgently. “Nico, pull it together, you can do this.”

 

Nico was shaking his head. He could feel the panic rising in him, trying to push him under. He buried his face in Will’s neck. This was not the fucking time or the place to completely lose his shit. But it was like he was right there, like he was ten again, screaming as the vice principal of his school hurled projectiles at him, as Percy jumped in front of him, the flash of silver arrows, the terror of seeing someone topple over a sheer cliff face on the back of the… the monster and then…

 

He was gasping and choking and coughing. His throat was on fire, but he was back in the present. He was on the ground, Will above him, holding an empty nectar shot.

 

“Get up,” Will said, stony faced. “We need you.”

 

Nico didn’t want to get up. He wanted to lie on his back and cling to his boyfriend and cry like a baby until he passed out from exhaustion. But the ringing in his ears was clearing, and he could still hear Cerberus barking, and the commotion down at arrivals.

 

“You’re the Ghost King,” Will murmured gently. “You got this.”

 

Nico closed his eyes, letting tears run down his temples. He took a deep breath, rolled onto his front, and got to his feet.

 

They had lost valuable time. While Nico had been fighting off a panic attack, the cornered manticore had started flinging projectiles everywhere. Several security booths had been lanced. Spirits had gone up in smoke. Cerberus was barking even more furiously. Nico was trying to assess the situation when the manticore fired again, and there was a loud yelp of an injured hellhound.

 

Nico was running at full speed before he could think. The terror that had blanched through him had been replaced with righteous fury. Absolutely _no-one_ could attack his dog and get away with it.

 

“Oi, Leatherface!” he yelled. The manticore turned on him and snarled with recognition. It bounded towards him.

 

It’s tail was coming up to fire. Nico dive rolled out of the way. He pulled out his blade and slashed towards the manticore and caught it on the flank.

 

This time the manticore was quicker than Nico. A projectile was launched right at him, at short range. Nico scrambled. He heard a yell from somewhere on his left, and the projectile was knocked off course. He looked at it as it embedded itself in the grass. An arrow shaft was sticking out of it.

 

“Will!” he yelled. The panic was back. Bringing Will had been a terrible idea. He couldn’t let him be killed by this monster. He slashed out wildly as the manticore prepared to pounce.

 

It roared in pain, and turned on Nico. An arrow shafted appeared in its neck. It howled again and backed up. Looking around, Nico could see it realising that it was pinned on three sides: Nico with his sword, Will with his bow, Cerberus with his three cruel jaws.

 

It roared and readied itself to fire, but then it charged right at Nico and bounded over his head. Will fired an arrow after it, but his shot went wide and missed by several feet. The manticore ran up the hill away from arrivals, and disappeared over the top.

 

Nico was panting hard. He felt like his insides had been torn out, dumped in a washing machine on spin cycle, and shoved back into his body. He squeezed his eyes shut.

 

Will stepped over and knelt down beside him. He put a hand on Nico’s shoulder. Nico accepted the offer. He turned into Will’s chest and clung to him like he was drowning. Will rubbed his back soothingly.

 

Finally, when his breath was back to normal, Nico pulled away. “Sorry,” he croaked. “Bad history.”

 

Will nodded as if he understood. Nico had never told him the story. Maybe he had heard it from someone else at Camp. Maybe he didn’t need to. Trauma wasn’t uncommon in demigods by any stretch.

 

Cerberus let out a mournful whine. Nico grasped Will’s arm. “Help me up,” he said quietly.

 

Will pulled him up and gave him a once over. “Nothing major, just bruising,” he said.

 

“It’s him I’m worried about,” Nico admitted, indicating Cerberus.

 

“Ah, right.” Will fell in behind Nico, putting a barrier between himself and the three headed guardian. “Well. I’m not really a vet, so…”

 

Nico rolled his eyes. He gave a short whistle. “Cerberus, heel.”

 

Cerberus walked over and sat down next to Nico obediently. “C’mere, boy,” Nico said. Almost immediately, one of Cerberus’ tongues started licking all over him. Nico smiled, and rubbed what he could reach of Cerberus’ fur. “You’re such a good boy,” he said indulgently. “Can you let Will look at your leg?”

 

Cerberus’ middle head raised to look at Will thoughtfully. Then he lay down, front paws out obediently. Nico looked at Will.

 

“Okay, you’re go—What?” Will was staring at Nico like he was the one with three heads.

 

“He… he’s like a dog,” Will stammered.

 

“Well, yeah, I mean, he’s a hellhound…”

 

“No, I mean… He looks like a regular Rottweiler!” Will was bewildered. “I mean apart from the fact that he’s the size of a three storey building and has three heads, he just… He follows your commands and wants to slobber all over you, and…”

 

“Yeah, he’s a dog,” Nico said. Now he felt bewildered. “What were you expecting?”

 

“I don’t know?” Will threw up his hands. “You’re always like, ‘oh, he’s like Mrs. O’Leary, except giant and with three heads’, but then the pictures and the stories say something different, and—”

 

“You trust Olympian propaganda over the word of your boyfriend?” Nico asked, affronted. Will stared at him.

 

“What are you talking about.”

 

Nico sighed, like this was obvious. “Dad says that when he got Cerberus when they were younger, his uh, ‘brother upstairs’ was angry and jealous, so he spread all these lies about Cerberus being a terrible monster and having a snake tail and—”

 

Will held up his hand. “I’m sorry I asked,” he said. He started rummaging in his medic kit again. “Let me just… Yes, I’ll look at the injury.”

 

“Thanks.” Nico rubbed Cerberus under one of his chins. “You be good for Will, okay? Or no jackalope jerky for a month.”

 

Cerberus licked the side of Nico’s head to show he understood. Will suppressed a smile when he saw how it made his hair stand up all over the place.

 

“So that’s why you always come back from here looking like you’ve had a bad haircut,” he said.

 

Nico shrugged. “He’s a good dog.”

 

“He is,” Will agreed. Cerberus was very patient as Will worked. Nico rubbing his noses probably helped.

 

Finally, Will wiped his forehead. “Okay, he should be good.”

 

Nico looked up from kissing Cerberus indulgently all over one of his faces. “Is he good to come with us?”

 

“Come _with_ us?”

 

“Yeah to face down the… that thing.” Nico nodded towards the arrivals area. “They’re gonna have their hands busy here for a while and Cerberus will probably just get in the way. They’re all locked down for now, anyway.”

 

Security reinforcements had been brought in. The place was swarming with skeletons and hellhounds, though smaller ones than Cerberus.

 

Will glanced up at Cerberus. “You think he’ll help?”

 

Nico set his jaw. “I want all the help I can get,” he said.

 

“Alright, you’re the boss.” Will packed up his kit and got to his feet.

 

“Hey Cerberus,” Nico said in his best talking-to-a-dog voice, “you wanna come help get the bad monster? Yeah? Of course you do.”

 

Cerberus gave three doggy grins and thumped his not-a-snake tail. Will shook his head.

 

“What?” Nico asked as he got to his feet.

 

“He’s not just a dog,” Will replied, “he’s an absolute _puppy_.”

 

Nico couldn’t help grinning.

 

+++

 

With Cerberus, Will didn’t need to play tracker anymore. Instead, he and Nico discussed strategy.

 

“I know I freaked out back there,” Nico said with a lump in his throat. “I won’t choke this time, I swear.”

 

“I know,” Will said gently. “Now we know what we’re dealing with, it’ll be easier.”

 

Nico nodded, but he was unconvinced. “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice cracking. “I was worried about you coming, but if you hadn’t been here…”

 

“It’s okay, Nico.” Will took his hand in his gently. “I worry about you when you come on these missions, you know.”

 

Nico nodded. He couldn’t decide if it was better for them to be alone and stressed about each other or together and stressed about each other. It was a question he had been asking himself for a while. He wasn’t expecting an answer any time soon.

 

Cerberus gave a short, deep _rolf_. The boys looked up. They were looking down towards the entrance to Elysium. The manticore was sniffing around it, growling and pummelling the entrance with projectiles. So far, whatever defences Persephone had ordered were holding up, but who knew how long that would last.

 

Nico and Will crouched, and Nico signalled for Cerberus to do the same. His left head was wriggling with impatience, but Nico knew his middle head would keep the other two on target.

 

“Remember,” Nico muttered to Will, “if Cerberus goes down, my father is going to kill me, so we gotta move fast.”

 

Will suppressed a smile. “Roger.”

 

“No, I’m Nico,” Nico whispered back. “Okay, ready? Let’s go.” He started to move, but Will grabbed his jacket. When Nico looked back at him, Will kissed him firmly on the mouth.

 

“Good luck,” he murmured.

 

Nico felt like he was going to float up through the Underworld, through the mortal world, all the way to Olympus. He pressed his forehead against Will’s. “You too.”

 

They split.

 

The grass here was lush, fragrant, and long. Nico didn’t exactly want to be grateful to Persephone for anything, but it gave them good cover.

 

Nico waited, his mouth dry, his heart pounding. The manticore growled and thrashed against the barrier again and again without success. Finally, it backed up and launched a projectile.

 

Under the cover of the spine crashing into the barrier, Nico whistled loudly.

 

Cerberus came bounding over the ridge, barking furiously. The manticore spun around, and roared. It shot off another projectile, but Cerberus jumped over it, pouncing on the manticore. The monster thrashed out with claws and teeth. One of Cerberus’ mouths howled in pain, and he backed off slightly. The manticore was back on its feet, hissing and roaring at Cerberus.

 

Suddenly, half a dozen arrows blossomed from its side. It spun around, trying to see where the arrows had come from. All Nico had to do was trust Will as a hunter, and stay calm.

 

The manticore leapt towards Will, but Cerberus jumped on it again, pinning it to the grass. There was another scuffle, more teeth and claws and blood.

 

Nico crept through the grass, his eyes on the manticore. Adrenaline was making his head pound. He could do this. He had faced so much worse since that night on the cliff top.

 

But then, he never could have known how that night would change his life.

 

He saw a flash of blond hair and bronze skin in the grass half a second before the manticore did. The manticore tensed, ready to pounce. Nico lunged.

 

He drove his sword hard and deep into the side of the manticore’s neck. It howled. Cerberus dived on top of it, jaws gnashing viciously. In seconds, it had dissolved into dust.

 

Nico stood up, panting. He patted one of Cerberus’ giant legs. “Good boy,” he said.

 

Will popped up out of the grass, clapping and whistling. “Bravo!” he called. Nico buried his face into Cerberus’ leg in embarrassment. Will ran over to him. “My hero,” he said teasingly, and pulled Nico into a hug.

 

Nico gripped the back of Will’s jacket. “Just doing my job,” he muttered. But he needed the hug more than he was willing to admit.

 

Will pulled away. “We gotta report back, yeah?”

 

Nico nodded. “You don’t have to come with me for that,” he said. “It’s mostly me talking and Thanatos taking notes and Dad looking like a statue and my step-mother whining about me.”

 

Will grinned wickedly. “Is that supposed to put me off, somehow?”

 

Nico groaned. “Bringing you was literally the worst idea ever.”

 

Will just laughed.

 

+++

 

Cerberus wouldn’t fit in the palace. They had to send him back to arrivals. Nico gave him extra jackalope jerky out of his backpack for helping.

 

“Good boy,” he said, cuddling each head in turn. “I’ll tell Dad all about it, okay?”

 

After whining, slobbering over Nico a little more, and licking Will’s face, Cerberus bounded back off towards arrivals.

 

“Gods…” Will said. “That… That was a lot of dog slobber.” He pulled a clean cloth out of his med kit.

 

Nico snickered. “It means he looooves you,” he teased.

 

“He must really love you, then,” Will shot back. “You look like you just had a dog drool bath.”

 

“It’s good for my complexion,” Nico retorted.

 

Will finished cleaning himself off. “So… this is the palace?” He looked up at the doors.

 

“Yep.”

 

“…It’s big.”

 

“Yep.” Nico took Will’s hand. “I’ll lead the way.”

 

He remembered how overwhelming the palace had seemed to him the first time he had visited. It was still a big place, but it was a big place he had a mental map of, and so felt smaller. Despite the endless sameness of the hallways, Nico was relatively confident he could be dropped down at any point inside the palace and work out where he was within a few minutes.

 

Luckily, his father and his step-mother were both in the throne room. Hades stood up when Nico walked in. Persephone stayed where she was, her legs kicked up over one arm of her throne.

 

“See? I told you he could handle it,” she said. But Nico didn’t miss the ribbon of relief in her tone.

 

Hades looked at Nico, and then at Will, and then back at Nico. He sat back down in his throne. “Thanatos is currently occupied. Persephone informs me she will record your report for later transcription.”

 

Persephone readjusted in her seat and pulled out her phone. She stuck it in the cup holder on her throne. “Okay, you’re good. Shoot.”

 

Hades cast a suspicious glance at the phone before he looked at Nico. “Well?”

 

Nico recounted, in as much detail as possible, their run-in with the manticore. He didn’t mention his panic attack. He played up Cerberus’ bravery instead. His father seemed to like that.

 

Still, there were a lot of questions. There always were. Hades was meticulous about record keeping. Fortunately, Persephone usually kept her mouth shut and pretended Nico wasn’t present while Hades was in the room, so he was able to focus entirely on his father.

 

Hades sat back, thinking deeply. “From what you have told us,” he said carefully, “I don’t believe that the manticore had fully reformed before it was able to escape the Pit.”

 

Nico’s stomach sank. He had the same suspicions. He remembered the previous incarnation of the manticore being a lot more talkative, and a lot more deadly.

 

“Do you think we need to report it, y’know…?” Persephone pointed to the ceiling. Hades looked thoughtful.

 

“Not at this stage,” he replied finally. “One instance of this is not enough to cause alarm. It could be a fluke.”

 

Persephone grinned. “Translation: you don’t want those meddlers from upstairs coming down here and messing around.”

 

Hades bristled. “I most certainly _do not_ want that,” he said. “Besides, the last Council meeting was mere days ago. As of right now we lack the information to answer any questions they would have. For now an internal investigation will suffice.”

 

Persephone sighed. “More paperwork…” She screwed up her nose at Nico. “Thanks for getting me the worst Christmas present ever, Nemo.”

 

Nico didn’t even feel a little bit bad. “You’re super welcome,” he said. He was absolutely willing to take credit for causing Persephone mild irritation when all she ever wanted to do was play with him like a tiger playing with a mouse. “It should last you all the way until next fall.”

 

Hades cleared his throat. “Yes, well.” He stood up from his throne and walked towards Nico. By the time he stood in front of him, he was the height of a tall man and looked like a regular business man, albeit one dressed head to toe in black with a red tie that made it look like his throat had been cut. “Nico, you haven’t introduced us.” He looked meaningfully at Will.

 

Nico stared at his father, speechless. He had played this moment over and over in his head about six thousand times since he had started dating Will. He had not imagined this was how it would go. For one he had thought he would remember that his boyfriend was actually with him in the same room as his father. Oh gods, he was holding Will’s hand still. He had been this whole time. His father was looking at him expectantly. He was totally frozen.

 

Will stepped forwards a little. “My name is Will Solace, um, Lord Hades,” he said. “Son of Apollo and Naomi Solace.”

 

“Nice to finally meet you.” Hades shook Will’s hand. “Nico has been… evasive about introducing us.”

 

Behind them, Persephone snorted. “Oh my _gods_ , what _ever_ ,” she said. In a moment, she was at Hades’ side, comfortably human-sized. “Will, don’t listen to him at all, he’s been like, wanting to ask Nico to meet you for-like-ever, and do you think he’s once managed to ask the question? No, he hasn’t, not even once, even though he’s had plenty of chances exactly like this one.”

 

Hades let go of Will’s hand. “Persephone,” he hissed. “What have I told you about appropriate behaviour in front of other people?”

 

“What, so you can just dump your own social awkwardness problems in Nemo’s lap, like totally throw him under the chariot in front of his Very First Boyfriend to protect your own image?” Persephone challenged. “C’mon, _il ragazzo_ already inherited plenty of social awkwardness off you without being saddled with more.”

 

Nico sighed internally. Just when he thought she might be sticking up for him, she found a way to backhand him at the same time.

 

Amazingly though, Hades did look a little shame-faced. “Well… alright,” he conceded. “Though I really am pleased to meet you.”

 

Persephone elbowed him in the side gently. “Tell him the other thing.”

 

“ _Persephone_ …”

 

“Tell him!”

 

Hades sighed. “My son has seemed… happier since the, ah, commencement of your relationship.”

 

Nico was dying. He was literally dying right now, in the throne room of the Underworld, and it was because his father was slowly murdering him with every word he spoke to Will.

 

Will looked embarrassed but… pleased? Literally how was that even possible? Oh right, Will was a saint. “Thank you, Lord Hades.” He glanced at Nico. “I hope… it will stay like that for a while.”

 

Persephone bounced on the balls of her feet and patted Hades on the head. “Seeeeeeee? That wasn’t that bad!” she said.

 

“That was literally the worst thing you’ve put me through in the last three hours, including the manticore fight,” Nico said to her bluntly.

 

“Whereas that’s just a nice little bonus on my part.” Persephone sighed happily. “Oh!” she said suddenly, her eyes lighting up.

 

“No!” Nico said pre-emptively.

 

“You didn’t even listen to my idea!”

 

“Any idea you have that involves me is a bad one!”

 

Hades cleared his throat. “I realise this is unorthodox,” he said stiltedly, “but as it is Christmas Eve, we had planned a little celebration. Would the two of you like to stay the evening?”

 

Nico and Will exchanged glances. Nico was desperately trying to ignore the way Persephone was bouncing up and down, suggesting that this was exactly what she had been about to say herself.

 

Ever the practical, non-panicky one, Will said, “I’m afraid if we stayed, we wouldn’t be able to eat?”

 

Nico could have kissed him right then and there, damn the consequences. _Yes, thank you, you wonderful beautiful saint hero demigod person,_ he thought aggressively in Will’s direction.

 

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Persephone said, a dangerous grin spreading across her face. “I can make a special order of above-ground food that will be totally fine for you both to eat.”

 

“We already have plans,” Nico blurted out. “S-Sorry, we just… We’re staying with Will’s mom over Christmas and…” He looked at Will desperately, and then back at his father. “Another time?”

 

“Of course, I wouldn’t want to impose,” Hades said, and Nico tried to ignore the flash of disappointment that flicked briefly across his eyes. “Please. The Underworld has intruded on your business enough for tonight.”

 

Will bowed respectfully. Hades met Nico’s eye and clearly noticed something in his son’s expression that troubled him. He reached over and touched Nico’s shoulder. “I understand,” he said. “There will be other opportunities.”

 

Nico sighed. Maybe there would be, maybe there wouldn’t be. They both knew ‘another time’ wasn’t a promise a demigod could always make. But right now his father was handing him an opportunity for private time at Christmas with his boyfriend. “Okay,” he said.

 

Hades nodded and took his hand from Nico’s shoulder. “Until next time, then. Will. Nico.” He nodded to each of them in turn, dismissing them.

 

“Bye Will!” Persephone yelled enthusiastically. “Try not to break Nemo with your dimples!”

 

Will snorted. Nico closed his eyes.

 

“Kill me now,” he muttered.

 

+++

 

Several hours later, after a lot of video gaming, more cocoa, and a lot more pandoro than either of them should have eaten, Nico and Will crawled into the double bed Will had at his mother’s house.

 

“You see what I mean about her being the worst now, right?” Nico said drowsily, half his face already planted in his pillow.

 

Will chuckled. “Well, I can’t say I’m not relieved neither of my parents are married.” He burrowed down next to Nico. “Still, I’m reserving judgement until after you see how my mom is tomorrow.”

 

“Unnecessary, but I’ll respect your decision to delay your inevitable defeat,” Nico said.

 

“I was more worried about your father, really,” Will whispered.

 

“My dad is… yeah.” Nico didn’t really have the words. He’d been working pretty closely with his father for several years now—certainly more than most demigods ever did—and he still hadn’t quite figured him out. “I think he’s like… lonely? Or awkward? Or something?”

 

Will laughed hard into his pillow. “Oh wow, I wonder who that reminds me of?”

 

“Listen, say what you want, I will never, ever give a teenager a _zombie chauffeur_.”

 

“Oh my gods, Nico, I already told you,” Will said, “I will hear nothing against Jules-Albert in my presence.” He sighed. “Best present ever.”

 

“You are such a weirdo.”

 

Will kissed Nico’s cheek. “Takes one to know one.”

 

They cuddled down a little. Nico relished having the feeling of someone warm and alive next to him, hearing their breath and their heartbeat. He spent so much time around death that Will was the perfect counterbalance, so overflowing with life that he could draw on it in other people to help them heal. “Will?” he whispered.

 

“Mm?”

 

“I’m glad you were with me today.” He spoke in a very small voice. The manticore had badly thrown him off balance. “If I hadn’t had you…” His voice cracked again. It really needed to stop doing that.

 

“You don’t have to talk about it right now.” Will laid one hand on Nico’s chest over his heart. “We all have stories.”

 

Nico sighed. “Yeah.” _I want to share mine with you,_ he thought. _One day._

 

“Oh hey.” Will propped himself up, looking at the clock on the bedside table. “It’s after midnight.”

 

“So?”

 

Will rolled his eyes. “ _So_ , if it’s after midnight on Christmas Eve, that makes it…”

 

The obol dropped. “Oh,” Nico said. “It’s Christmas.”

 

Will grinned. “Merry Christmas, sunshine.”

 

Nico grinned back wickedly. “Merry Christmas, freckles.”

 

“Nooooo!” Will buried his face in his pillow as Nico cackled wildly.


End file.
